Greely Letter #4

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Baptism Day

 

 

Above and Below photos: Habitat for Humanity project

 

 

Ice skating on Preparation Day

 

They call this a Sister Smith Sandwich hug!

 

Well, I had responsibility of driving the car for about 12 hours Saturday night and on to Sunday morning. Driving to a 6:30 am meeting, we slid on some ice and into a fence.... and now the whole front bumper is missing. only 12 hours!! Are you kidding. I was going 15 mph (in a 25 mph area). My goodness. Everybody is fine and the owner of the fence is one of the nicest people I've ever come across, so that was good. Ugh... so inconvenient and I just feel terrible about it. It's a little ridiculous. 12 hours. that's it.... anyway, moving on.

 

OK, Business. We get to skype on Christmas!!! I'm so excited. I wanna cry just thinking about seeing all of you :) And yeah, could you send me Mo's phone number just in case? I'm elated to have a car at this time of year. Serious blessing. Everytime I want to complain about the cold I just smile and say, "we have a car." Perspective is everything and riding/walking around in Laramie snow is still fresh in my mind. 

 

So, one of the people I was working really closely with in Laramie and I have been keeping in touch via email. Before I had to leave town, I left her with a commitment to watch a conference talk weekly and every Monday I'm elated to see her name in my email inbox and have the opportunity to read about the talk she watched and her thoughts about it. It seriously makes my whole day. I recommend talks when they come to me, but would love for some favorite talk suggestions. What are some of your favorite talks and why are they meaningful to you? I'd love for some more ideas to share with her.

 

The Elder that broke his arm went home and his companion went to Fort Collins, so here we are with our work load and theirs trying to keep our heads above water. I love it. We constantly have something to do and it's helped me to see the power of other people doing the finding. This experience has given me a vision for what missionary work would be like if members were doing more of the finding and missionaries doing more teaching. In addition to all the people we are trying to keep track of, we are regularly doing service. We got to help out at a Habitat for Humanity build on Tuesday. It was so much fun. I really enjoy the service hours we get to do and the opportunities to meet people from the community.

 

I LOVE THE BUSS FAMILY. We live with the most adorable couple. They are so fun to talk to and laugh with. Words aren't sufficient for how much I enjoy their company and how caring they are.

 

S and N received blessings this week. Two Elders that they haven't met before came. S always has the most powerful promises in his. Afterward, N looked at us and asked if we had told the Elders about S. We said no and that they don't know anything about him. She immediately started to cry and said, "So, how does that work?" The blessing was so specific and so characteristic of S, and all of us (except the Elders) recognized it. It strengthened my testimony of the power of the Priesthood as we explained that Priesthood holders are simply instruments for Heavenly Father to deliever messages to us.

 

Saturday morning we were able to get the whole mission together and hear from Elder Christensen. It was phenomenal. He talked about the importance of paying attention to impressions and invited each of us to draw a vertical line down the middle of our page, recording impressions on one side and quotes on the other. He talked about the light of Christ that exists in each individual. He compared it to gravity. A law crucial to our existence and always in effect. Although we cannot see it directly, we are able to see evidence of it everywhere and in everyone. It just made so much sense.

 

J, J, and A (investigators from the Elders) were baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. It was incredible to be part of that process. We've been going over there almost everyday. I love seeing the changes that the gospel brings so naturally. Change doesn't come all at once, but if we allow Christ in our lives, it comes. B, J's wife, was able to attend with their three kids. She continues to open up more and more to gospel related things. J is such an amazing leader in his family. He does what he knows to be true and brings his kids to church each week even though B doesn't want to come yet. I know that his example is what will lead her to opening her heart.

 

We've been meeting with an amazing woman (and member) who sincerely wants to change and come closer to Christ. She has come to church the last two weeks and has been making amazing progress. It is so refreshing to visit with her and help her make and reach goals. In Relief Society she pulled out her manual and started taking notes. Incredible!! I didn't even have a manual....

 

Life is great. We find out about transfers this Saturday. There are 30+ missionaries coming in so we're all expecting quite a few changes.

 

Love, Sister Hoer